Always On The Run
by Anya2
Summary: 9thDoctor - Rose's frustration with the Doctor grows after the events of 'The Doctor Dances'.


**Title:** Always On The Run  
**Rating: **T  
**Set:** Post 'The Doctor Dances'  
**Pairings: **Doctor/Rose  
**Author's Note: **This is all because of a comment steviesun made on Time and Chips. It's amazing where plot bunnies come from…

* * *

"What d'you mean there's a funny noise?" the Doctor asked with a frown, seeming rather affronted by the suggestion that something was wrong with his precious time machine, "What kind of funny noise?" 

Jack shrugged nonchalantly either not picking up on his mood or not caring as he leant back against the TARDIS console.

"I dunno. If I did I wouldn't be bothering to tell you about it, would I? Whatever it is, it seems to be coming from this door right outside my room and I can't sleep."

The Doctor didn't appear particularly concerned and turned back to look at the console display he had been studying before Jack had walked in.

"Well?" the rouge time traveller prompted, when no further reaction was forthcoming.

"Well, what?" the Doctor asked, all innocence.

"Doctor," Rose snapped irritably, "Why don't you just go and check it?"

She'd been in an increasingly bad mood with him for the past couple of days and his current attitude towards Jack wasn't helping matters, especially since the errant Captain was in her good books right now. At least he didn't call her a stupid little ape. At least he paid her some attention.

At least he showed some interest in her after they'd danced and didn't just pretend it never happened.

Rejection was a real bitch, especially when you'd gotten your hopes up that things were finally going to go your way. And, as she had found out, it left you really bitter towards the one doing the rejecting.

The Doctor held her stern gaze for a long moment, but Rose refused to back down.

"Fine," he said eventually giving in with a huff, "I'll have a look."

As he headed out of the door, Jack turned back to her.

"You coming?" he gestured with a twinkling smile.

She frowned, seeing no reason for that whatsoever.

"Why?"

"Because I need you to protect me from him," he replied with a good natured laugh, holding his arm out for her to take. She did so, feeling a little better about things. Jack was good at that – making her feel better. Not great, but better.

"The way I'm feeling at the moment you'll be protecting him from me," she corrected, only half joking.

* * *

"Well, I can't hear a noise," the Doctor said irritably as he pressed his ear against the door for the fourth time, "Are you sure it came from in here?" 

Jack nodded sharply, "Positive."

"What is it?" Rose asked, nodding towards the door.

"A store cupboard," the Doctor explained.

"And what's in there?"

"I don't know," he replied impatiently, his face screwing up as though it was the most ridiculous question in the world, "Stuff I wanted to store."

"Alright, I only asked," she muttered defensively, bristling at his attitude.

The Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket and began to run it over the panel next to the door. A list scrolled across the screen and Rose guessed it was some sort of inventory of the room's contents.

He shook his head as he continued to search, "I can't see anything here that could be making a noise."

"Well why don't you just open the door and take a look?" Jack suggested.

"Oh yeah," the Doctor snapped back sarcastically, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Rose grimaced. He really was in a bad mood now, which was probably partially her fault. Not that she particularly cared. He'd started it. It wasn't fair he was taking it out on Jack though.

Running the blue beam of the sonic screwdriver over a different section of the panel, there was a clunk and the door began to swing open. The Doctor placed the device down on top of the panel and stepped inside the small, dark cupboard, having a good look around. Curious as to what a Time Lord might want to store away for future use, Rose stepped into the doorway behind him, peering inside. Not that she could see much. Just a load of boxes, labelled in a language that she didn't understand.

"You know, Jack," the Doctor said, looking around at the boxes with a shake of his head, "You really should check what you're drinking at night, because there's nothing in here that could-"

He was cut off as the TARDIS suddenly jolted and lurched dangerously to one side. Taken totally off guard, Rose fell forward straight into the Doctor, her momentum pushing them both to the floor. She felt him grab her firmly and roll them both over, protecting her as the contents of the shelves started falling towards them. Then all went dark, quiet and thankfully still.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor's voice asked gently in her ear after a tense moment of silence.

"I think so, yeah," Rose said with a nod, before quickly wishing she hadn't, grimacing at the pain the small movement had caused in her head.

She heard a rustling as The Doctor sat up, clearing them some space. His hands fumbled towards her, helping her to sit up too.

"Are we in the cupboard?" she asked, unable to see anything in the pitch black.

"Apparently so."

"And it's locked?"

"You can only open it from the outside," the Doctor confirmed.

"Well that's just bloody stupid," she muttered with a harsh sigh.

He chose to ignore her, instead shuffling carefully towards the door, banging on it loudly.

"Jack? Jack, you alright?"

There was a small tense silence. If he was hurt then they were trapped in here.

"Yeah, I'm fine," his voice came back, a little grouchily, "Felt like the stabilizers went off for a moment there."

"It did, didn't it…" the Doctor pondered, the sound of his voice betraying his confusion about that.

"Look," he continued, prioritising their current predicament, "I can't open this from in here. It's sealed itself shut. You need to use the sonic screwdriver on the panel next to the door to let us out, yeah?"

"Ah," Jack said, sounding a little sheepish, "I think I just realised what that pain was when I landed."

"What?" the Doctor asked with foreboding.

"You don't have another one of these sonic screwdrivers do you? This one seems kinda broke."

"'Kinda broke'?"

"Well," Jack explained, "It's not glowing blue anymore. And is it really s'posed to rattle when you shake it?"

"You've sodding well broken it!" the Doctor said furiously.

"To be perfectly honest I think it did more damage to my backside when I landed on it. I am not going to be able to sit down for a week with the bruise that's forming there…"

"I don't care about your arse!" the Doctor snapped.

Rose could almost hear Jack's grin, "I bet you say that to all the boys."

"Jack!"

"Fine," he said with a huffy sigh, "I'll go and try to find something to get you guys out. Don't go anywhere."

The Doctor scowled to himself and then turned around and started rummaging through the assortment of boxes on the floor.

"What you doing?" Rose asked, simply because it was better than just waiting and doing nothing.

"Looking for a torch," he muttered distractedly.

"You have a torch in here?"

"It's a cupboard," he reasoned "Where else do you keep a torch?"

A few long moments of silence later the Doctor let out a small sound of triumph and Rose blinked furiously as a half light suddenly filled the room. When he vision cleared she saw him shuffling over to her, a frown on his face.

"You're bleeding," he said gently, pointing at her forehead.

Rose's fingers gingerly drifted up to the point on her head that was still throbbing, just along her hairline. When she took them away there were indeed a few drops of bright red blood on the tips.

"It's not serious," the Doctor reassured, reaching behind himself and bringing out a box of tissues from amongst the things scattered on the floor, "It's just a shallow cut. Probably won't even need stitches."

He took a handful of the tissues out and rolled them into a ball. He went to press them to her forehead but Rose slapped his hand away and snatched the tissues from him, holding it to her head herself. She'd had enough of him being cold to her one minute and all kind and caring the next. He wanted to make his mind up whether he really liked her on not.

The Doctor looked at her warily, apparently remembering that she was in a foul mood with him. He shuffled away and sat down on the opposite side of the cupboard, his legs stretched out and running parallel with hers. He noted the scowl set firmly on her face, which she was currently aiming at the floor rather than at him.

"Rose," he said with a deep, weary sigh, knowing he couldn't avoid the matter any longer, "What have I done?"

She turned her glare on him and it somehow seemed to become much more fierce.

"Ever since we left the 1941 you've been in a mood with me," he pushed when she didn't respond any further.

"How very observant of you," she snapped back, pulling the tissue from her head to see the bleeding was stopping.

He let out an infuriated sigh. Bloody humans and their stupid emotions. Why didn't they just say what they feel? Wouldn't life be so much easier that way?

"Rose," he reasoned, trying not to turn this into another argument, "How am I suppose make it up to you if I don't know what I've done wrong?"

"That's just the problem," she retorted sharply, "You never know. You're so damn insensitive."

"Rose, look-"

"Do you even feel anything?" she challenged bitterly, "Do you even care about how I feel? Everything's alright as long as I'm trailing along behind you like a good little pet human, isn't it?"

"Rose!" he scolded sharply, stunned that she would even think that about him, let alone say it, "You know that I care about you. How can you not?"

"Because you don't do anything about it!" she yelled, totally infuriated by him, "You just hide all the time, dodging and side stepping it like it's going to go away, but it's not! It doesn't go away, does it!"

He shook his head in open mouthed bewilderment, totally at a loss, "I don't understand. Where's all this coming from? Why don't you-"

"You wouldn't dance with me, alright!" she shouted.

They sat there staring at each other for a long moment, until Rose had to look away because she felt stupid.

"You wouldn't dance with me again," she explained much more quietly, "In the bar when we were celebrating after saving the world without causalities for once. You pushed me away. Told me to go and dance with Jack…"

The Doctor was deathly silent, staring at her intently, the slight fall and rise of his chest the only sign of movement.

"What's the matter with me?" she asked in a small voice, forcing away the tears that had begun to form at the corner of her eyes from the memory, "Why don't you want me? I know I'm just a silly little human, but I thought you liked me."

"I do like you," he gently reassured.

"More than like?" she asked, her tone hopeful.

He was firmly silent again, a dark look on his face.

"Is this just some big game to you?" she asked, unable to hide her hurt, "Make the stupid human girl fall in love with you and then have a good laugh about how daft she is? Is that what aliens do?"

"Of course not," he said, shaking his head, "How can you-"

"Because we never talked about," Rose interrupted, terrified but unable to pass up this opportunity to know one way or the other. An opportunity to try and get a straight answer from him when he couldn't run away for once.

"We never talk about what the Dalek said," she continued, "It called me the woman you love. 'The woman you love' and we never talked about it. That's such a big thing but we never even mentioned it."

More silence.

"Am I her?" she asked with no small amount of dread, "Am I the woman you love? I mean, love as in 'love' not as in 'really care about'."

"Rose, I-" he began with an evasive, squirming look about him.

"Stop it, alright?" she said firmly, "Stop stalling and hesitating and doing the right thing. Just tell me either way. I'm fed up of second guessing what you feel. It's doing my head in. I can't live like this."

She shook her head frustrated and uncertain.

"You never say anything. You flirt with me and you look out for me. You do wonderful things for me and you're jealous of any bloke I show an interest in. You dance with me. But when I give you an opportunity, when I'm literally throwing myself at your feet, you just brush me aside. What kind of bloke are you?"

She shook her head, "But I keep forgetting, right? You're not a bloke at all. You're a nine hundred year old alien. I dunno. Maybe Time Lords don't do all this. Maybe they grew out of it."

She took at deep, shaky breath as she held his intense gaze. This was it. Make or break time. She had to ask him now or she knew she never would.

"I love you," she admitted, trembling, "At least, I know I'm falling in love with you and I thought you felt the same way, but now I'm not-….Look I have to know if I'm wasting my time, okay? Please, just tell me. I'm not like you, I don't have forever to wait."

Silence.

Oppressive, suffocating.

"Well?"

More silence.

Deafening, loud.

"Doctor?"

More silence.

Heartbreaking. Cold.

"Oh God, say something…" she pleaded, desperately.

He moved so suddenly that Rose didn't have time to prepare. She didn't know what had happened until she felt his lips against hers. Even then it took her a good few seconds to realise he was kissing her. It was a little awkward and brief, like he was out of practice, but it still managed to make her heart race.

When he pulled away he looked at her fearfully, as though he was worried that he was in for a slap.

Rose was still for a long moment, a thoughtful expression on her face, staring at him and breathing hard.

Then she sprung forward, settling herself on his lap, kissing him again. He was more certain of himself this time, his lips moving with hers. He didn't seem to mind when Rose pressed closer to him and swept her tongue into his mouth, enjoying the feeling as one of his hands flew into her hair and the other settled at her waist.

By the time she pulled away they were both panting breathlessly.

"Does that answer your question?" the Doctor asked with a small smile.

Rose nodded, beaming, "It'll do."

He frowned worriedly, "You do realise that I'm no good at all this romantic, deeper feelings type stuff. Never really had to be."

"I don't care," she said, shaking her head, "I'll teach you."

He reached out and gently cupped her face.

"But I do love you," he admitted quietly, "You know that, yeah?"

She nodded, with a huge smile, her hand moving up to clutch at his.

He grinned in return, "Good."

He initiated the kiss this time and Rose had to admit for a man who seemed so out of practice he was a very fast learner. She ran her fingers softly over his chest as he kissed her with a slow burning passion, letting his lips massage against hers, letting his tongue thoroughly explore her mouth. The small moan that escaped him as she ran her fingernails over his nipples made her blood burn. God, she'd never wanted anything so much.

Suddenly the light in the small cupboard brightened considerably and they both looked up to see Jack's rather smug face grinning down at them.

"Is this a bad time?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Maybe I should I come back later."

Rose grinned and reached up for the door handle, "Much later."

As the door closed in his face, Jack smiled.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again; those guys are so sweet."

His grin widened considerable as he began to walk away.

"And I am a genius," he announced to no one in particular with a satisfied chuckle.

He reached out and patted the walls of the TARDIS fondly, "Couldn't have done it without your help though, old girl. How about a drink to celebrate? Well…I drink and you watch."

He headed off down the corridor with a beaming grinning, mentally making a note to ensure he didn't drink so much he forgot to let them out later.


End file.
